Autonomous Driving is Coming No Matter What, Says SoftBank CEO

“Autonomous driving is coming no matter what,” says Says SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son. “That’s the destiny of where technology is going to drive us.” He adds: “When autonomous driving comes the cost of providing the service will dramatically get more efficient. It will also dramatically reduce the rate of accidents compared to human driving accidents. I think autonomous driving will be definitely coming very very soon.”

I Definitely Believe Uber is Going to Grow Exponentially

I would like SoftBank to remain invested in Uber as long as possible. Of course, it all depends on the share price (after their IPO). Sometimes the share price goes up too high too quickly and then we have to harvest a little bit. It all depends on the market conditions. But do I believe the company is going to grow exponentially? I definitely believe so.

I’m very respectful (of our) dialogue with the new management (led by Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi). He’s very very smart and very well balanced. He can be very offensive (strategically) in increasing the business and he can also be very cost-efficient (and good with) employee morale and so on.

Travis Kalanick is a Pioneer

I respect that but at the same time, I also have to mention that I respect (Uber co-founder and former CEO) Travis (Kalanick) tremendously. He’s one of the best entrepreneurs. He is a pioneer. When you pioneer a new frontier you have to have the energy, the passion, and out-of-the-box thinking. His aggressive is one of the best. Potentially, I would love to support him in his new ventures. It all depends on the price. But I have tremendous respect for him.